Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants is the number one casual-dining operator in terms of revenue; with about 1,825 restaurants in the United States and Canada. Its flagship chains include Red Lobster and Olive Garden. Both chains offer mid-priced menu items, themed interiors, and primarily suburban locations. Darden also operates the Long Horn Steakhouse chain, with about 330 outlets. Other chains include The Capital Grille (upscale steakhouse), Bahama Breeze (Caribbean food and drinks) and Seasons 52 (casual grill and wine bar).

In the fiscal year ending in May of 2010, the company reported sales of approximately $7.1 billion dollars and had 174,000 employees.

Ad boycott against Air America Radio
Darden Restaurants refused to advertise on the progressive Air America Radio. In October 2006, around 90 companies, including Darden Restaurants' Red Lobster, told ABC Radio Networks that they did not want their ads to play on radio stations that carried Air America Radio. , ,

Political contributions
Darden Restaurants gave $357,745 to federal candidates in the 2010 election through its political action committee - %52 to Democrats and %42 to Republicans.

Lobbying
The company spent $962,531 for lobbying in 2006. $180,000 went to two outside lobbying firms with the remainder being spent using in-house lobbyists.

Key executives & pay

 * Clarence Otis (54) - Chairman & CEO - 2.62 M & 3.67 M in exercised options
 * Andrew H. Madsen (55) - President & COO - 1.87 M & 2.38 in exercised options
 * C. Bradford Richmond (52) - CFO - 986K & 967K in exercised options
 * David T. Pickens (56) - Sr. VP & President, Olive Garden - 1.26 M & 2.52 M in exercised options
 * Eugene I. Lee, Jr. (49) - President, Specialty Restaurant Group - 1.10 M & 2.32 M in exercised options

See also Executive Leadership.

Board of directors
See also Board of Directors.

Contact
5900 Lake Ellenor Drive Orlando, FL 32809 Phone: 407-245-4000

Fax: 407-245-5389

Web address: http://www.dardenrestaurants.com

SourceWatch articles

 * Berman & Co.
 * Meat & Dairy industry
 * Processed food industry
 * War on Animals